Ronald 1/2
by Poo7667676
Summary: Hermione accidentally casts a spell on Ron that she can't quite undo - and turns him into a girl. Very fun (I think), and it'll be fluffy-ish later on. Chapter 3 up. More flirting with Ron. :o
1. Default Chapter

**Ronald ½**

Chapter 1

A beautiful (snicker) parody by L. Morningstar 

Disclaimer: I own nothing. :D 

"_Hermione_!" 

"Oh, God, Ron…I'm _really_ sorry!" 

Ron Weasley stood in front of the mirror, his jaw wide open as he stared into his reflection in utter horror. 

"Hermione…what the bloody _hell_ did you do?" He ran his long, slender fingers over the smooth, pale skin upon his cheekbones. 

"Wow," Hermione Granger walked up to her best friend, braced both hands upon his thin shoulders and looked at his reflection, "that wasn't supposed to happen." 

"You're kidding," said Ron sarcastically. 

With a rather high-pitched moan, he sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands. Silken, fiery red hair cascaded over his shoulders. 

Hermione sat down beside him and patted his back. "Look on the bright side…the original spell only lasts for about two months or so." 

Ron groaned. "How do you expect to fix this?" he asked, giving her a pleading gaze. 

"Well, the charm was supposed to be reversed by either pouring hot water or this really complicated spell, but then that was the _original_ charm. I don't know what went wrong…" 

"Well, then." Ron sank further into the couch with a quiet whimper. "Get some hot water and see if it works!" 

"Ron, are you sure you want to take that risk? I mean, on the original spell, the hot water only works for about ten times, max. And it's only temporary—lasts for about 2 hours, or so." 

"I don't _care_!" Ron cried, standing up and gesturing to himself. "Do you not _see_ me, Mione?" 

Hermione stepped away from Ron, a smile playing on her lips. Her gaze swept from his toes to the top of his head. "Yes, yes, I see you." 

"I am a _girl_, Hermione!" said Ron miserably, pulling his now-very loose shirt away from his chest and peering into it. "Oh…_oh_…God. _Wow_. This is creepy." 

Hermione couldn't help it. She dissolved into helpless giggles at the incredulous look on Ron's face. 

Ron looked up, and gave Hermione a very baleful glare. "This isn't funny," he muttered. 

"Yes it is," she replied, leaning on the wall for support as the giggles overwhelmed her. 

About a minute or so later, her laughter finally died down. She inspected Ron again, still with a smile. 

"It's quite strange…you're prettier than I am," she mused out loud, tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes in careful scrutiny. 

"_Get the hot water_!" 

Hermione jumped in surprise, unused to the knowledge that a scream so high-pitched and feminine was coming from Ron. 

With another giggle, she hurried into the kitchen in the next room. 

When Ron was sure Hermione could no longer see him, he walked across the Grangers' living room and stared at himself in the mirror again. 

How could have "one little favor" for Hermione gone so horribly wrong? First, he thought she was only practicing on him for her Ancient Charms and Spells (she needed it for the job she wanted) license by casting an ancient spell that was meant to change your voice temporarily—that is, until the person the spell was cast on drinks hot water. 

And now, he was a girl. A _girl_. 

"Oh, God." Ron moaned. He still wasn't used to hearing his voice being so…_womanly_. It was quite strange. He plopped back down on the couch. 

"I'm back with the hot water," Hermione said happily. 

"Thank you," said Ron as she handed him the pitcher of hot water. Bringing it to his hauntingly full lips, he drank from it. 

Nothing happened. 

"Oh _no_," Ron looked down on himself and noticed no definite changes. "It didn't work!" 

Hermione sat down beside him. "I'm really sorry," she said brokenly. "I didn't mean for this to happen." 

"I know you didn't," Ron said tiredly, reaching down and rolling his pants up. "Hey, check it out, Mione," he went on sullenly. "I don't have any hair on my legs." 

Hermione giggled again. She reached over to take the pitcher from Ron, but her hand shook so hard from her sniggers that instead of holding the pitcher, she knocked it over. 

"This just isn't my day, is it?" Ron asked sadly, looking blankly at the warm water as it seeped through his shirt and his pants. He stood up. "I'll just grab a towel from your bathroom; is that all right?" 

"Yeah…Ron, listen, I'm really sorry about—" she faltered in mid-sentence. "Ron! You're changing back to…er, yourself!" 

"What?" Ron looked down, and a grin broke out over his features. The morphing was astonishing. It happened so fast; within the span of fifteen seconds, Ron Weasley was now a guy who was very much dripping wet. 

"Oh…" Hermione stood up, "so in this case, you need to actually _spill_ the water to get it to work." 

"I guess so," Ron sighed. "How long is this going to last again?" 

"About 2 hours." 

"How about the spell?" 

"About half of the day," Hermione responded, "but it only works once every seven days." 

"I see." 

"Ron…Ron, wait." She reached out and tugged on his sleeve. "You can't tell anyone that could possibly relate this to the Ministry of Magic about what happened." 

"Why not?" Ron asked. 

"Well," Hermione turned a pale scarlet, "technically, I'm not allowed to practice spells on people." 

"You broke _rules_?" Ron looked quite shocked. "I'm impressed, Mione." 

Hermione stuck out her tongue, a habit he found strangely adorable when he took in the fact that she was almost twenty-three. 

"Anyway," she went on, "just promise not to tell too many people." 

"What, you think I want people to know I'm going to be turning into a girl on a regular basis for the next few weeks?" 

"You've got a point," Hermione admitted. "Anyway, you should change out of that outfit. It's wet. I think my dad has some extra robes you can wear for the time being," she flushed again, this time at the thought of Ron clad only in her father's bathrobe. 

"Nah," Ron shook his head, the tips of his ears the same shade as her cheeks, "I could just Apparate back to the Burrow…_oh no_!" he moaned as he heard his own voice—feminine, gentle and throaty. "Mione are you sure this lasts for two hours?" 

Hermione watched with wide eyes as her best friend changed into a woman right before her eyes. Again. 

"Er, maybe we should make that two _minutes_." 

A/N: Yes, I know, what a crappy way to open up a story, but this'll get funnier as it progresses, I promise you! ^.^ *evil gryn* Please r/r! 

The insanity shall continue when some of their friends find out about Ron's—predicament. O_o 


	2. Chapter 2

Ronald ½  
  
Chapter 2  
  
  
  
"I am not going to go out of this house in a damn dress of yours!"  
  
Hermione ignored Ron's indignant protests as she pulled open her closet door and began sifting through the muggle clothing she owned. "Stop being such a baby," she responded, glad that she was facing away from him so that he wouldn't see her smile. "It's not that big a deal."  
  
"Are you kidding?" Ron cried, tossing his now-long crimson hair over one shoulder. "Of course it's a big deal!" He groaned. "I'm going to be a bloody transvestite now!"  
  
"Believe me," Hermione glanced at Ron over her shoulder, "dressing up in my clothes is the least of your problems."  
  
"I'm quite aware of that—but dressing up like a girl won't help any!"  
  
"What, you want to attract the attention of everyone by looking like a girl in a man's clothing when we're on our way to your house?"  
  
"Why can't we just Apparate?" said Ron, sitting down on the edge of Hermione's soft bed and crossing his legs. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and uncrossed them—it was simply too weird.  
  
"Well, I'm not allowed to Apparate until I take my Ancient Charms and Spells exam," she responded impatiently, tossing several articles of clothing into the air. "And there's no way I'm letting you out of my sight, thank you."  
  
"Stupid exam, caused all this trouble. Besides, you already broke one bloody rule when you turned me into a girl…why not break another one and Apparate, hmm?"  
  
Hermione pointedly ignored him as she got up, a triumphant smile on her face. "Ha, found it!" She turned around and tossed him what looked like a crumpled up blue skirt. She proceeded in tossing him two shirts. "Wear these. We're not going that far anyway; we're just going to be going to my neighbor's house. We can use their fireplace; it isn't nailed shut like ours is right now. We can use Floo Powder there."  
  
"Why do I have to wear two shirts?" Ron asked, holding the three articles of clothing before him.  
  
"Would you like to peer down your shirt again, Ron?"  
  
Ron stared at her for a moment of profound thought. "Oh…oh. Right."  
  
Hermione gave him a goofy smile and a roguish wink. "I'll wait for you downstairs. You'd better not Disapparate."  
  
"I won't," Ron promised.  
  
"I can't do this," said Ron. "I cannot go outside in this."  
  
Hermione sighed impatiently. "Honestly, Ron. We need to go to your house and ask for Ginny's help—after all, she's the one who wants to become a wizarding doctor. She knows her cures even better than I do. Besides," she went on with a laugh, "you look very pretty. Blue is a good color on you."  
  
"Thanks," Ron responded wryly. With a sigh that was, disturbingly enough, one of the most feminine sighs Hermione had ever heard, he walked out of her house, red ponytail bouncing in the air.  
  
What was even more disturbing was the fact that Hermione seemed to have been right; Ron could feel the eyes of many men following himself as he walked down the street, and it was making him nervous.  
  
"Mione," he whispered nervously, "there are people looking at me in…very…strange ways." He paused in mortified horror. "Did you see that? The man we just passed by winked at me!" Ron bowed his head in abject terror. "I can't do this."  
  
Hermione patted Ron's arm lightly. "Don't worry, we're not too far from my friend's house; it's just a 5-minute walk."  
  
"Oh, yay," said Ron sarcastically.  
  
They walked in silence after that, each one contemplating their respective thoughts, until someone pushed past them. More than one person, actually—three men, all of unimpressive statures, were shouldering past them rather arrogantly.  
  
"Excuse me," both Ron and Hermione said indignantly.  
  
Almost simultaneously, the three men turned around. Each one of them had nasty smiles on their faces as their gazes swept from Hermione to Ron.  
  
Ron shuddered. The feel of people from the same gender checking him out and flirting with him was disgusting.  
  
"Good afternoon, ladies," the man in the middle said.  
  
Ron gave him a very sardonic smile. He wasn't in the mood to be bothered. Hermione did not bother to respond.  
  
"Ooh," the guy on the left shivered mockingly, "Ice Ladies."  
  
"Let's go, Mione," Ron took her by the arm and began to lead her away.  
  
"You're not leaving," the man in the middle spoke again. "We need to teach you some manners."  
  
I'll teach you some damn manners, thought Ron menacingly, cracking his knuckles in a very unwomanly fashion. Only Hermione's placating hand on his shoulder stopped him.  
  
"Hermione," a familiar voice spoke from behind them. "Are these guys bothering you?"  
  
Oh, God. I know that voice Please don't let it be him. Please don't let it be him. Please, God, don't let it be—  
  
Horrified, Ron turned around. Hermione spun around as well. She held back a wince as she felt Ron pinch her arm in terror.  
  
Draco Malfoy's cold gaze swept over the three men. "Go," he ordered coldly.  
  
Muttering, the three men, who, as Ron had guessed, were absolute cowards immediately backed away.  
  
"Good afternoon, Hermione." Draco gave her a smile that was somewhat wintry.  
  
"Hello, Draco."  
  
Ron kept silent, holding back a scowl. Sure, they may all have been more civil—even friendlier—towards each other since they defeated the Dark Lord with each other's help, but that didn't mean he liked Malfoy anymore.  
  
Well, maybe a little more. After all, there were some things you just couldn't go through with some people without becoming friends, and defeating Lord Voldemort just happened to be one of them.  
  
"…so, what brings you here?" Hermione was now making very polite conversation with Draco.  
  
"I was on my way to your house, actually," Draco responded, his gaze briefly flickering towards Ron. "I was supposed to give you the forms you need for your Ancient Charms and Spells exam. The head of the board gave it to me to deliver to you." He handed Hermione some rolled-up parchment. He turned back to Ron with a suave smile. "Who's your friend?"  
  
"Hmm?" Hermione turned to Ron, and faltered. "Oh. Um. This is Kari. Kari…uh, E-Eudemon. She's…from a wizarding school in Ireland. She just moved there. And now she's here. Visiting me."  
  
Draco gave 'Kari' a very wide, rather flirtatious, smile. Weakly, Ron returned it.  
  
Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit, was the only mantra that was echoing within his mind.  
  
"Well, Kari," said Draco smoothly, "I hope to see you around then."  
  
1 Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit…  
  
"Right," Ron managed to choke out.  
  
"I'll be seeing you, Hermione." Draco gave both of them another suave smile, before Disapparating.  
  
2 Don't vomit, don't vomit, don't vomit…  
  
"That," Ron said loudly as soon as he disappeared, "was the most disgusting, traumatizing event that has ever happened and will ever happen to me."  
  
Hermione dissolved into another fit of giggles. "I can't believe he was flirting with you. Who knows, he might even ask you out!" At the thought, she leaned on Ron for support as the laughter overwhelmed her again.  
  
"It's not funny!"  
  
Hermione straightened up and gave him a wink. "It is when it's happening to you."  
  
Draco Malfoy shimmered into being in his house, tossing his rather uncomfortable muggle shirt off.  
  
Pretty girl, that Kari Eudemon, he mused, as he settled himself down before the fire. Strange name, but she's very pretty.  
  
She's got the bluest eyes, he couldn't keep the thought out, expressive, blue eyes.  
  
A/N: Yes, you all know where this is going. ;-) Sorry Malfoy fans!  
  
A very short excerpt from the next chapter:  
  
"You're very pretty, Kari," Malfoy said. "Did anyone ever tell you that?"  
  
"Please," Ron answered, clapping his hand over his face, "please shut up."  
  
Bwahahaha… 


	3. Chapter 3

**Ronald ½**

Chapter 3 

Pre-fic note: I _hated_ how the last chapter looked, big font-y, no italics, with no proper paragraph separation, and the like. I don't know what went wrong, but I'm trying to fix it. Hopefully this one looks like the first chapter, nice and organized. ^_^ 

Ron stumbled out of the fire, coughing bits of ash and dust out. Years of traveling through the Floo Network still hadn't taught him how to close his mouth properly. 

"Mione?" he cleared his throat, waiting for her to step out and silently cursing as he heard his own voice. 

_Oh, _joy_,_ he thought wryly._ Not only is my voice high and girly, now it's nice and throaty too. _

Hermione stepped out – without coughing at all, Ron noticed resentfully – and grinned at him. 

"You ready to see Ginny?" she asked, running a hand through her thick hair. 

"Do I have a choice?" 

"None at all," she responded, reaching out and straightening up his blouse. "We need to find out exactly what spell I cast on you. Then we can find out everything we possibly can about it—Ginny? Ginny! Where are you? It's me!" She proceeded in walking out of the living room, looking around for Ron's younger sister. 

Ginny hurried into the living room, closely followed by Harry Potter. 

"Oh, _bugger_," Ron muttered as he saw his best friend's emerald eyes settle upon Ron, puzzled. 

"Hi Mione," Ginny smiled, before turning to Ron. "Who's this?" 

Hermione opened her mouth to explain Ron's predicament, but shamefaced horror took over him and he held out his hand. 

"Kari…uh," he groped for his phony last name – why did Hermione have to come up with such a strange one anyway? She could have stuck with the more traditional Smith, or something. Or maybe Carlston – he'd always liked that last name… "Kari Eudemon." _I think that was it._

He ignored Hermione's surprised, admonishing look as Ginny shook his hand. "Hi, Kari. I'm Ginny. You already probably know Harry Potter." 

With a very slight flush, Harry stepped forward and shook Ron's hand. 

"Pleased to meet you," he said, with a friendly smile. Ron noticed he looked vaguely distracted. 

Harry's eyes narrowed in almost-suspicious study, and he slowly let go of his hand. He stared into 'Kari's' wide azure eyes. 

Ron couldn't bring himself to look away. He shifted uncomfortably in his sandals. 

"Ron?" Harry murmured, disbelievingly. 

"_What_?" Ron's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I—what—what are you talking about?" 

"What happened to _you_?" Harry asked, stepping away. He did not seem to have any trace of doubt in his conviction that the tall girl standing before him was his best friend. "You look…different." 

"Different is an understatement," Ron responded sullenly, finally giving up the charade as he resisted the overpowering urge to stare in horrified shock inside his shirt(s) again. He turned to Ginny, who was now staring at him, dumbfounded. 

"Hi Gin," he gave his younger sister a halfhearted wave. "You don't have to stare too much—it _is_ me. Mione—" he paused and glared at Hermione, who had shrunk back against a wall, "—managed to screw up some spell and turned me into a damn girl." 

"He's not lying," Hermione asserted, turning an interesting shade of red tinted with purple (Ron speculated she was getting rather sick with humiliation). "I really don't know what went wrong," she went on. "It was supposed to be a normal—" 

"And _illegal_," Ron cut in. 

Hermione gave him an arch, warning look. "A _normal_ spell," she went on. "Only his voice was supposed to change. I guess I made a mistake somewhere." 

"Oh, _really_?" Ron muttered sarcastically, with a toss of his fiery ponytail. "I didn't notice." 

Ginny gave him a reprimanding look. The look, however, quickly changed into a look of inspection. 

"It really _is _you," Ginny marveled, poking experimentally at her older brother's (sister's, for now) shoulder. "I can tell by your eyes." 

"Yeah," Harry agreed, who had had been watching in silent analysis the whole time. "Your eyes still look exactly the same." 

"Well, Harry, I don't want to know when exactly did you stare into my eyes and know just how they look. And Gin, please tell me how I can _become a bloody guy_ _again_!" 

"Grumpy, grumpy," Ginny muttered, shaking her head. "Anyway. The spell is a very old one, called – simply enough – the Switch spell. We all know why it's called that," she added with a giggle. "It can be –_ very_ temporarily – reversed with hot water. It's very uncommon." 

"We already found that out," interjected Hermione. "By means of trial and error." 

Ginny seemed a little bit perplexed at this remark, but she went on. "The hot water's effects shorten with each time you use it. After a time, it's going to make no effect at all. Besides, ice-cold water turns you back into a girl anyway." 

"How long is this going to last?" Harry asked, as he leaned on the couch Ron sat on and began to play with his best friend's long hair in curious fascination. Ron, rather touchy by now, pushed him off the edge of the sofa. 

Harry fell with a soft yelp. He was promptly helped by Ginny, who gave him a kiss on the cheek before continuing. 

"That was uncalled for," Hermione reproved. 

Ron ignored her and crossed his legs. After a few seconds, he glanced down at himself and uncrossed them, looking very uncomfortable. 

"There's no permanent counter-spell, mostly because the spell itself isn't permanent anyway," Ginny told them, before pausing and glancing at Ron as he changed position again (with his knees to his chest and his sandals on the couch). "Hey, your legs don't have any hair." 

"Thank you, Lady Obvious," Ron mumbled glumly. "How long does the spell last?" 

Ginny wrinkled her nose at his austere demeanor. "It lasts for about three weeks. Six weeks would be a very long time already. There _is_, though, a temporary reverse. Lasts for a good six, seven hours. It's very hard to do, and it doesn't always work." 

"Why not?" Hermione asked. 

"Nobody actually knows," Ginny answered. "Sometimes it just doesn't. It usually works more often with very skilled wizards or witches, so I'm guessing Mione should always try and cast it on Ron. But from what I hear, the more you use that, the less it works, too. Like the hot water." 

"Hullo, everyone. We're home." 

"Oh, _fuck_," muttered Ron, sinking down the sofa. Hermione glanced in surprise at him. Normally, he didn't curse quite so profoundly. 

"Hi Fred, hi George, hi Bill," said Harry. His eyes flickered briefly to Ron, who still looked very much like a girl. 

"Hey, who's your friend?" asked Fred, giving Ron a friendly smile. He was carrying a two-year-old boy with red hair and glimmering brown eyes in his arms. 

"Actually, this is—" 

"It doesn't make much sense, but—" 

George, however, did not wait for Hermione or Ginny to finish their warning protests. He walked up to Ron. 

"Hi," he said in an uncharacteristically deep voice as he held out his hand for Ron to take, "I'm George Weasley. I don't believe we've met." 

Harry snorted; Ginny began to cough; and Hermione pressed a finger to her aching temples – they'd all heard George talk like that before. 

Ron shrank into the couch (now he wished he'd bought that sofa that sucked people right in it a few weeks ago). His blue eyes were unsettlingly wide and they flashed in what bore an indistinct semblance to utter disgust. 

"You-you're…" he choked on his words. He seemed very, very sick. "You're using your flirting voice on me!" 

George looked more than a little surprised. "What are you talking about? I've never met you before. And I don't even _have_ a flirting voice," he added with angelic innocence. Ron would have fallen for it had he not seen George use that same voice on many women (and if he wasn't actually guy). 

Harry snorted again. Ginny pulled Fred to her, waving hello to her nephew (who was named after their eldest sibling) before leaning over and whispering something in her brother's ear. 

Fred listened for some moments (nodding at all the right times), before he burst out laughing. 

"George," he said, through his sniggers, "I think you should stop flirting now." 

"I'm not flirting!" George protested, turning away from Kari and wagging his eyebrows at Fred suggestively. 

Harry pressed a fist to his mouth. He was shaking with suppressed laughter. Fred was vaguely reminded of a pea pod getting consecutive electric shocks (Harry had grown considerably thinner as he got older; many people allotted this to fast metabolism. Fred still staunchly campaigned that Dudley Dursley stole his food on a daily basis and should be punished with the now-infamous Ton-Tongue Toffee.). 

"Um, George," Hermione ventured, sitting down beside Ron. "A couple of hours ago, I accidentally cast a spell on Ron. It was called a Switch spell. Do you know what that does?" 

George shrugged, and nodded. "Yeah. Ginny told me about it when she was studying it for her job. It switches people's genders arou—_God no_." He stared at Ron, who was now camouflaged within his long locks of hair because he had turned so red. "You're kidding," said George lamely, weakly. "I can't believe this." 

"Hi George," Ron mumbled. "You don't think I'm me? I could prove it – I could tell everyone what happened the first time you rode a muggle roller coaster when you were eighteen," 

Harry and Fred began to laugh at Ron's last remark; apparently, they were there as well. 

"Okay, okay, I believe you. No need to unearth old, dusty history," George backtracked hastily. "I need to sit down," he waved his hand in Ron's direction. "Scoot over. I like this couch." 

Ron obliged, and George sat down. Their elbows brushed together as he did so. 

"Scoot over more," George said feebly. "I'm not in the mood to touch you too much. No offense; it's just kind of…well, _icky_ for now." 

Ron silently agreed, and moved closer to Hermione. 

"So," Fred grinned. "What happened?" 

Ginny and Hermione began to explain (supported by low, humiliated moans from Ron and snickers by Harry) the whole thing. 

Fred's right eyebrow lifted in amusement. "Angelina should've been here. She'd have loved this – she's still at her parents', you see." 

"Oh," said George, nodding slowly. "I see. That's actually pretty funny—hey, Fred, I have an idea. Come with me to the kitchen. Leave Bill with Mione, or something." 

Fred shrugged and handed Bill (who was making an interesting puddle of drool on his shirt front) over to Hermione, who got up and began to play with the baby. 

"You know what was most disturbing?" Ron asked after a few moments of silence and semi-fascinated staring at him. 

"What?" Harry asked. 

"We ran into Draco Malfoy today." 

Hermione burst into quiet giggles. Bill bounced happily in her arms. "Yeah," she interjected helpfully, "he was flirting, too. Evidently, if Ron had been born a girl, he would have been quite the heartthrob." 

Harry and Ginny began to laugh. Loudly. 

"Wow," Harry choked out, wiping away tears of mirth from his cheeks, "I'm glad I recognized you pretty fast, else _I_ might've started flirting with you." 

Ginny, through her laughter, playfully slapped Harry's arm. 

"Sorry," said Harry, leaning over and giving her another kiss on the cheek. "It's just that Ron's so—so _pretty_!" At that he began to laugh all over again. 

A small smile played on Hermione's lips as she watched the two. 

Even Ron's mood seemed to lift; his lips pulled into a trace of a grin. "Thank you, Harry." 

"Hallo, we're back," said Fred, a large grin on his face. He carried a pitcher of ice-cold water in his hands. 

"Yep," George agreed happily. He carried a pitcher of hot water in his hands. He bounded over behind Ron. He promptly poured some of its contents over his younger brother's head. 

"Hot water," sang George out cheerily. 

Ron turned into a boy in a skirt. 

Fred energetically bounced beside his twin and poured a little ice-cold water on Ron's head. 

"Cold water," he said merrily. 

Ron's form shimmered into a girl again. 

"Hot water!" Boy. 

"Cold water!" Girl. 

"Hot water!" Boy. 

"Cold water!" Girl. 

"Hot water!" Boy Cursing Quite Profusely. 

"Cold water!" Girl Cursing Even More Profusely. 

Hermione slowly sank to the carpeted floor, leaning on the wall for support. She feared that she was in danger of dropping Bill; she was trembling too hard. 

Harry was literally crying, and Ginny was trying very hard not to laugh (she ended up doing so anyway – really, Ron Weasley changing genders every couple of seconds was just too ridiculous a site). 

"What the bloody _hell_ are you doing?" Ron howled, his voice becoming much higher in mid-sentence. 

"Just checking to make sure it's you," Fred answered cheerily, "experimenting. Hot water!" 

He poured the last of the hot water on Ron. 

And nothing happened. 

"Oh, _no_," Ron moaned. "It's stopped working." 

"Oops," said Fred. 

"Oops," echoed George. "That went kind of wrong." 

Ron, now stuck as a girl soaking rather wet, would have leapt over the couch and savagely attacked his two brothers if his skirt wasn't too heavy to lift. 

And if only his arms were bigger. 

Ron settled for a series of loud, very animated expletives. 

Fred poked him in the arm. "You're teaching my son bad words," 

"And _you're_ teaching him evil stuff!" said Ron. He didn't even notice how ridiculous 'evil stuff' sounded, especially when everyone in the room knew it was in reference to water-pouring. 

"Yes, well," Fred shrugged, placed the empty pitcher on the couch and took Bill from Hermione, who was still in tears on the sofa. "At least I'm teaching him never to cast that spell on himself, too. Or anyone, for that matter." 

"It was a sodding accident!" Ron objected, getting up and walking out. "I'm going to go take a shower and dress up. It's cold in this. And I'm going to wear _my_ clothes. I don't care how it's going to look." 

Bill began to giggle as he blew little saliva bubbles. 

Draco Malfoy picked up the cup of hot coffee from the counter and lifted it to his lips. 

Thoughts of Kari Eudemon still floated around within his mind. He wondered briefly how he would be able to find out more about the striking, blue-eyed girl. 

Well, it didn't really matter all that much. Draco Malfoy was not one to back out from a challenge – and a challenge Kari seemed to be. 

He'd figure something out. 

A/N: If anyone was looking forward to seeing that -- *cough* -- interesting conversation between Ron and Draco in this chapter, I hope you weren't too sorely disappointed. It's going to be in the next chapter. I promise! :D 


End file.
